Mohammad Javad Zarif

Mohammad Javad Zarif had announced his resignation on Instagram: “I am apologising you for all the shortcomings … in the past years during my time as foreign minister. … I thank the Iranian nation and officials.”

The United States had already identified the risk of a Lebanese government with a pro-Iran majority. Several American officials visited Lebanon to warn Lebanese officials not to appoint Hezbollah politicians to top ministerial posts such as health minister, and also to warn about the ramifications of rapprochement with Iran.

“I am apologising you for all the shortcomings ... in the past years during my time as foreign minister. ... I thank the Iranian nation and officials,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif posted on Instagram.

In a Dec. 23, 2018 interview with the French weekly “Le Point,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that no Iranian leader had ever threatened to destroy Israel.

Speaking at the Doha Forum 2018 on Dec. 15 in Qatar, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that U.S. sanctions are having a negative effect on Iran’s economy, but that they are not enough to cause a change in Iranian policy.

Lawmakers are seeking answers to accusations of “money-laundering accusations against the Islamic Republic,” “failures in economic diplomacy” and “weakening the country’s defenses.”

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javid Zarif in Tehran to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.